'County lines': Gang guilty of Bristol drugs murder

Machete-wielding members of a "county lines" drugs network have been jailed for life for murdering a rival dealer.

Yasin Ahmed, 21, from Islington, north London, was stabbed at a flat in Prewett Street, Bristol, in the early hours of 25 June.

Korie Hassan, 26, Leon Eaton, 37, Jordan Parker, 23, and Yonis Diblawe, 24, were caught after a neighbour called police.

Sentencing took place at Bristol Crown Court earlier.

Eaton was sentenced to 36 years, Hassan was jailed for 29 years and four months, Parker for 31 years and six months and Diblawe to 26 years.

The four men, from London and Bristol, were from a gang controlling a drugs supply line in Bristol that was in competition with another supplier.

Police were alerted when a resident saw masked men storming the stairwell of the block of flats in the Redcliffe area of the city.

Det Ch Insp Darren Hannant, of Avon and Somerset Police, said officers who were called to the address saw "men dressed in black carrying machetes".

"During the course of the chase they had seen what they thought was a machete being put down a drain - there were two large weapons down that particular drain."

Eaton, of Lewin Road in Lambeth, south London, was caught by officers, while Hassan was found hiding under an upturned dustbin.

Eton and Hassan, of Church Road, Upper Norwood, Croydon, had travelled from London to help the two local men, Parker and Diblawe, of Firfield Street in Totterdown, confront Mr Ahmed, who had taken over the flat from a vulnerable drug user.

In all, police recovered a machete, a zombie knife, as well as kitchen knives.

"Yasin Ahmed did not deserve his fate but had put himself in a position where the risk of attack was an occupational hazard," Det Ch Insp Hannant said.

"It is clear from the evidence that the attackers went to Prewett Street that night intent on committing serious violence with dangerous weapons."

In a statement Mr Ahmed's father, Salah Ahmed Hussein said: "My son, Yasin, was a very caring person and very considerate to others, especially towards the family and our community.

"He was a very high achiever at school and gained 5 A* grades at GCSE level and 3 A* grades at A- Level.

"His future was planned and he was accepted to study medicine at a very reputable university in China in September of this year."

He added that his son had paid the admission fee and his son's dream was to be become a doctor so he could help others.

Two other people in the flat were badly injured.